BMI FORMALLY LEAVES STAR ALLIANCE

Alliance Customer Benefits Remain in Place until 31 May 2012

FRANKFURT,Germany - April 20th, 2012 - With today’s change of ownership from Lufthansa to the International Airlines Group (IAG), bmi has formally exited the Star Alliance network .

In preparation for this bmi, Lufthansa and Star Alliance have been working together in order to ensure a smooth withdrawal. Therefore, bmi can continue to offer all Star Alliance customer benefits and bmi Diamond Club members receive all of the Alliance privileges associated with their membership until 31 May 2012 inclusive. These include earning and redeeming miles on the Star Alliance network. However, since the bilateral Frequent Flyer agreement between the Star Alliance members participating in Lufthansa Miles and More and bmi has already been terminated, collection and redemption are no longer granted for these airlines.

In all other cases, Star Alliance Gold and Silver benefits will continue to be offered until the end of May. These include:

Even after bmi's departure Star Alliance will maintain a strong presence in the UK, with 24 member airlines providing more than 3,000 weekly services to and from the UK. These flights connect 12 UK airports directly to destinations in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania..

About Star Alliance:
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award and Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, Brussels Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAM Airlines, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Avianca-TACA, Copa Airlines, EVA Air and Shenzhen Airlines have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers more than 20,500 daily flights to 1,293 airports in 190 countries.